Thursday, May 29, 2008

Hooray for Kendrick Perkins!

(Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

By the grace of God the Boston Celtics won last night without Leon Powe. This was thanks mostly to Ray Allen and Kendrick "I always have an angry face" Perkins. Ray finally got his shot going hitting 5 three pointers and scoring 29 points, including a huge shot from the corner with under a minute to go. Now Kendrick Perkins had the game of his life. A lot of it had to do with being in the right place at the right time, but I hear he's been working hard in practice so it's nice to see that pay off for him.

Perkins had playoff career highs with 18 points and 16 rebounds. Now I know everyone including myself is just gushing over this performance, but I realized last night that this is what Perkins was suppose to be doing all season. Kendrick was the starting center, he's suppose to average double digits in rebounds and in points. I know it's hard not to get excited when he does this because we're all hoping this will be a career changing moment that will bring confidence to Perk for his up and coming years in Boston. But we have to realize this is what a big guy is suppose to do. This is what we've been waiting for him to bring to the game. Perk needs to be having games like this all the time.Usually when Perk plays a good game he follows it up with a few bad ones. But I feel like he's riding some confidence. We could see a new Kendrick "Angry Face" Perkins for the next few games and seasons. Maybe he'll be that double-double guy we've all been waiting for him to be.

To Leon Powe now...

Perk absolutely saved Doc Rivers last night. If the Celtics lost while not playing Leon, he would have been murdered by the billions of Leon Powe fans waiting outside the arena. Perk made it easier on Doc to make a decision not to play Powe or Davis which is exactly what Rivers needed. My complaint now is that Leon should be getting some if not all of P.J. Brown's minutes. While I've said that I like Brown's experience on the floor during the end of the game, I don't like him playing at any other time. He is still too old and slow to keep up with the more athletic and strong Pistons big men. Brown has been torched on defense and gives nothing on offense. He's been playing 18 minutes a game in this series and only averages 3 points and 2.8 rebounds. He is virtually unproductive out there and doesn't give the spark needed off the bench that Leon has showed he can provide. So once again, hopefully Doc can see this and put Leon in before it's too late.